Page 16 of Stripping Keys
“West is here?” I blurt out, interrupting him.
“Yeah, helped me get your shit here,” he answers. “Plus, he’s staying because he’s important to you, and it must be vice versa since the man cares about you too.”
“West is my best friend.”
“I know.”
The way he said those simple two words so gently causes my stomach to flutter. Not in the way of nausea or badly. No, it was a good flutter like butterflies. It was stupid. I mean, all he said was ‘I know’. It’s not like he proclaimed his undying love for me and swore to stand by my side for all of eternity.
Lifting a hand to stroke my cheek, he doesn’t stop holding my gaze as he steps back ever so slightly, his other hand taking mine. “Come on, baby, we’ll order some food, get you something to drink, and we’ll talk.”
He doesn’t wait for me to respond, just pulls me back deeper into his room. To my surprise, he walks us over to the corner, bends down, and opens the little mini fridge he has there. Opening it, he pulls out a single bottle of my favorite tea, Milos. It’s not hard for him to know this about me. I probably said it to him a million times in the years we’ve worked together, though I couldn’t remember if I tried. Sweet tea was always my go-to.
Keys straightens and hands it to me.
So many things pop in my head at once, but ironically the most random of them all ends up spilling out of my mouth way too easily.
“You never told me why your road name is Keys.” I found it hilarious that his road name was the same as my last name. West made a joke that it must be fate screaming at me to get with this man.
Keys smirks and shakes his head. “When I was prospecting for the club, one night, the guys were all partying at an establishment called Dolly’s Playhouse. It’s owned by the DRMC Originals Charter. Anyway, the rule was I had to stay sober. I ended up holding all of their keys, and one of the strippers there thought it would be funny to give me a lap dance. Wasn’t very pleasant when I’ve got two pockets full of keys. You can kinda figure out the rest.”
Listening to his story, I surely can. “Let me guess she didn’t enjoy the keys pressing into her.”
“More like she cried that I was trying to hurt her with a pocket full of keys.” He grunts. “Blow and Nines are the ones who came up with the name for me.”
“I would have thought it had something to do with how many words you can type or something.” I shrug.
“You’d think that.” He grins and shakes his head. “That’s what I’ve used to tell some, but can’t really hide the truth, not from you that is. If you didn’t hear it from me, my brothers would’ve enjoyed telling you just to fuck with me.”
“I highly doubt they’d tell me. It’s not like any of them are my biggest fans.” Even as I say that, my mind brings up the looks Blow and Nines had given me while they sat across from me as Calyx had me explain everything the other morning.
I shove the image out of my mind and take a sip of the tea.
“What do you want from the diner?” Keys asks, watching me closely.
Thankfully, he changed the subject and didn’t argue what I said about his brothers.
I tell him what to order, and I escaped to the bathroom. I needed a moment away from him, but also if I didn’t finally relieve myself, I’d probably embarrass myself in a way that neither of us would forget . . . it would be too humiliating.
Taking my time in the bathroom, I do my thing, find an extra toothbrush to clean my teeth, do that, then I decide to take a quick shower.
I probably should have waited to shower until after I got some of my things, but I didn’t even think about it. I wanted a shower. Using Keys’s bodywash, I cleaned my body. I wasn’t worried about washing my hair. It wasn’t a hair-washing day.
Once I finish my shower, I turn the water off and wrap myself with a towel. I suck in a breath and brace myself for confronting Keys in nothing more than a towel.
Doing everything in my power, I ignore the man sitting in his computer chair and find my bag. I grab a pair of underwear and pull them on underneath the towel. I do the same with my sweatpants. No reason to put anything else on, and I lovewearing baggy sweats loose around my hips when I’ve got nothing to do.
Reaching into the bag once more, I pull out a tank top, not worrying about a bra, and pull it on, dropping the towel as I pull it over my breasts. I look back in my backpack and find my toiletry bag and take it with the towel back to the bathroom. I finish my typical routine with moisturizer and deodorant.
I hang the towel up and make my way back out of Keys’s bathroom. I glance in his direction, not sure what to expect, but finding him staring at me with fire in his eyes wasn’t it.
“Food’s ordered,” he remarks, getting to his feet.
“Okay,” I mutter and look away.
“We’re gonna start our talk while we wait.”
Of course, we were.
